


Ink my skin with your name

by newtmasdoesthedo



Series: Well, except Newt. He calls me Tommy. [10]
Category: The Maze Runner (2014), The Maze Runner Series - All Media Types, The Maze Runner Series - James Dashner
Genre: I've stopped trying to pretend that this ship hasn't taken over my life, M/M, Oops, Tattoo AU, Thomas has a lot of tattoos and that makes Newt's life very hard, also I made him very sad, and it doesn't end nicely, but I'll add more so at some point there shall be happiness, so far just Newt fantasizing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-15
Updated: 2015-05-20
Packaged: 2018-02-21 06:01:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2457467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/newtmasdoesthedo/pseuds/newtmasdoesthedo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Okay, so I got these different designs,” Thomas started, spreading out the paper on the tattoo-chair after Newt had risen, “You can just change here if you want to, if not you can go to the back-room to the right. Also if you need to take a piss now would be a good time. We’ll probably take a break in like 45 minutes to make sure you don’t hurt too much and so I can stretch my hand a bit. Lucky for you I’m ambidextrous, so if you can keep going so can I. We’re only going to do the outlines today, gives the best effect. Then we’ll make another appointment.”</p><p>And if that wasn’t enough to make Newt want Thomas to fuck him silly he didn’t even know what. He’d never felt this kind of attraction towards anyone, and he didn’t even know the guy. It was ridiculous how quickly this desire had seared through his body, and though he’d considered just getting his first time over with a couple of times to escape Gally’s mocking comments, he’d never really acted on it. So here he was, feeling like an idiot as he made an awkward movement to show that he was going to change in the back room and shuffled out there, shaken to the bone with what was happening to him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Such a sting leaves a mark

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. Prompt by [anon](http://newtmasdoesthedo.tumblr.com/post/99903016195/prompt-newt-wants-to-get-inked-tatto-artist-thomas) on tumblr. By all means, feel free to prompt me [here](http://newtmasdoesthedo.tumblr.com/ask). Also please kudos and feedback and all that jazz.  
> 2\. Another title supplied by the brilliant Ed Sheeran.  
> 3\. Uhm, this was supposed to be a oneshot, but I like this 'verse a lot. So yeah, probz at least 3 chapters on this one. Damn you anon (no but seriously come off anon, be my friend, you've inspired me, you're not letting me sit here with this without part-taking in my suffering)

Newt had been pondering on what tattoo to get forever. It was as big decision, and Newt wasn't one to do something rash, especially after everything he'd been through. Life had been hard to him, he'd learned the hard way that only one person would take care of him, and that was himself. His entire life had felt like being lost. Like he'd been trapped in a Maze with no way out, forcing him to search almost helplessly for something that just didn't show.

Where every single one of his friends found girlfriends and boyfriends, one-night stands, friends with benefits and lovers, Newt just didn't get that.

 

He felt like something was missing, but he didn't fall in love. It just wasn't happening for him, and though his friends were amazing and loving, he still found himself aching for something that he couldn't quite put his finger on.

He'd finally learned accepting himself, though. He'd realized that maybe he just didn't fall in love so easily, and he wasn't that interested in shagging up with people just like that.

He felt like he was so close to finding the exit, and that was why he'd made this decision. He was going to get a maze tattooed, A reminder of how hard he'd fought to find his way through things and gain acceptance both from himself and others.  
  
Now he was here, though. Chuck had seemed to think that this place would be the best for him to go, he'd even offered to come, but unfortunately couldn't make it the day Newt made his reservation. It would take a shitload of time, so Newt had brought his book, having refused with a very characteristic eye roll to take Chuck's retro Gameboy with him. He felt slightly jittery as he walked up to the counter, almost wanting to back out. "Hi. I've been e-mailing with someone named Thomas about a sleeve? A maze tattoo?"

 

When the guy behind the counter turned around all air left his lungs. Deep amber eyes met his, crinkling the skin at the corners when the tattoo-artist sent him a smile that looked like the sun was coming up.

The guy was wearing a dusty blue Henley shirt with his sleeves rolled up, revealing that both of his arms were covered with tattoos, skillfully done, and Newt sank a lump with the thought that he'd probably done it himself. It took him a second to realize that the tattoo-artist was talking to him.  
  
"Erh, sorry, what?"

  
The guy flashed him another brilliant smile, and his heart was all but in his throat. "I said that I made some different sketches with ideas, I thought you'd like to see some different designs, I like my customers to have different options. My name is Thomas. Newt, right? Tight jacket."

  
Newt looked down on the sleeve of the brown bomber jacket Minho, Fry and Chuck had given him on his birthday last year after they’d found out that his parents had not only made him move out, but also decided not to give him any birthday present. He really didn’t know how they’d found out, but he suspected that Minho had somehow hacked his phone. He’d refused to take it in the beginning, but his friends had been pretty insistent in keeping up leaving it in his small flat until he finally broke down and showed up to a party in it. His eyes met the tattoo guy – Thomas’ gaze and a shiver ran down his spine. He really wished he’d taken Chuck up on the Gameboy thing right now, because reading with this guy around was probably not going to be an option. He was way too attractive for Newt to be able to focus on words. He pulled himself together, smiling back at him and shoved his hands in his pockets. “Thanks man, I’m really fond of it. Gift from some friends – you know one of them, Chuck.” He said, knowing that Chuck had recommended this place to him because he knew the artist and his work. Chuck didn’t have any tattoos himself, the notion was almost enough to make Newt snort with laughter.

  
“Oh yeah, he’s a good guy. Applied for a job here once, but we don’t really need an assistant, me and T do pretty well on our own because people don’t really come here just to wait.” The guy said as he was drying his fingers off, managing to get most of the drying ink on there off. “He’s really cool, maybe he mentioned you once or twice, I don’t really see how I forgot the name Newt. It’s not exactly a normal name.”  
  
The small-talked was comfortable enough, and Newt followed him nodding when he moved to the chair in which Newt would be sitting. He racked his brain for something to say but couldn’t come up with anything. The way the Henley stretched over toned back-muscles made Newt’s mouth water in a way that he didn’t exactly understand. What the hell was different about this guy? He was no different than any of the other guys Newt had seen. Well, apart from the dimples and the eyes and hair that looked like he’d just rolled out of bed but still looked weirdly good, and the fact that his arms were muscular with masterpieces inked on them. “Did you do your own tattoos?” he asked, wanting to talk, but also feeling like the time for answering the other question had already run out. Bloody hell. “I mean, if you did I can tell that I’m in good hands, they’re amazing.” He added, hoping that the guy caught onto the fact that he was trying to pay him a compliment.  
  
Thomas patted the chair and nodded. “Yeah, yeah I did. Uh, I hate to ask this, but your shirt seems pretty loose and I really need it not to slip down while I’m doing this, so can you maybe take it off? I have a wife-beater somewhere in the back if you want to put something on. I haven’t gotten to wash it yet, but I promise I didn’t sweat in it or anything.” He stated, and Newt had to focus very hard not to blush.  
  
The thought of wearing this guy’s shirt was embarrassingly attractive to him. He decided not to engage further in such silly thoughts and nodded slightly. “Yeah, it’s fine, I’m sure you’re not a stinker, you don’t look like one.” And then he realized exactly what words had just slipped out of his mouth and he coughed into his hand, trying to mask exactly how uncomfortable he was making himself. Thomas seemed pretty at ease though, ‘cause he just flashed him a smile and disappeared into the back for a minute or two before coming back with a bunch of sketches and a shirt.  
  
“Okay, so I got these different designs,” Thomas started, spreading out the paper on the tattoo-chair after Newt had risen, “You can just change here if you want to, if not you can go to the back-room to the right. Also if you need to take a piss now would be a good time. We’ll probably take a break in like 45 minutes to make sure you don’t hurt too much and so I can stretch my hand a bit. Lucky for you I’m ambidextrous, so if you can keep going so can I. We’re only going to do the outlines today, gives the best effect. Then we’ll make another appointment.”  
  
And if that wasn’t enough to make Newt want Thomas to fuck him silly he didn’t even know what. He’d never felt this kind of attraction towards anyone, and he didn’t even know the guy. It was ridiculous how quickly this desire had seared through his body, and though he’d considered just getting his first time over with a couple of times to escape Gally’s mocking comments, he’d never really acted on it. So here he was, feeling like an idiot as he made an awkward movement to show that he was going to change in the back room and shuffled out there, shaken to the bone with what was happening to him.  
While taking the recommended piss he was staring in the mirror, frowning at himself as he tried to figure out what was going on. He’d met plenty of attractive guys before. He’d never actually doubted that when he was going to do all that stuff it was going to be with a guy, but he’d never found anyone _that_ attractive before. It had been more like a vague appreciation of someone’s looks. This one was different. Maybe it was that open, warm smile, or maybe it was the fact that his brain was happily supplying information on how much this guy had tried to help Chuck. He’d never really thought much about it before, but he realized now that this was _that_ Thomas. Thomas was a pretty common name, but something about the thing he’d said about Chuck applying for a job there had made something click behind his skull, and he realized that this was the guy who’d let Chuck crash with him for two whole months without expecting anything in return when Newt had still lived at his parents’ house and didn’t have room.  
It was hard not to feel fiercely protective of Chuck, even if he could be an annoying bugger, so maybe it was that sunshine smile and those amber eyes, the way he seemed so welcoming, combined with the fact that he’d obviously taken great care of one of Newt’s friends. None the less, there was no reason he should spin completely out of control because of some guy, so he pinched the bridge of his nose, steeled himself and walked out of there, now dressed in a wife beater that flowed around his body ever so slightly.  
  
Okay, so the guy was fit. No problem. Nothing to freak out about. There were plenty of fit guys out there. Nothing to jizz himself over without even knowing the brunette.  
  
When he came out Thomas was speaking in low tones to a pretty brunette with wild curls and piercingly blue eyes, and Newt sucked in a breath. Did angels sculpt everyone here? He wasn’t really into girls, but even he could tell that this girl was stunning. When Thomas smiled at him and introduced her as Teresa he just nodded and shot her a shy smile, assuming that this was the “T” Thomas had been talking about.  
  
“Okay, looking good buddy, wanna get going?” Thomas asked, and Teresa rolled her eyes ever so slightly, so discretely that Newt almost missed it. But he didn’t, and he shot her a questioning glance. She just shrugged and smiled at him as though nothing had happened, and Newt might not be the brightest guy when it came to flirting, but he couldn’t help but assume that that was what was happening. Teresa’s demeanor sort of suggested that Thomas was a flirt in general, but Newt really couldn’t make a fuss about that just yet, seeing as he was way too engrossed in studying the tattoos that curled themselves around muscled arms that suggested that Thomas wasn’t exactly the type to lie around doing nothing when he wasn’t working.  
  
This time he didn’t forget to answer, but picked up the sketches one after the other. “Bloody hell. You’re really talented. Do you have a favorite yourself?” he asked, eyes running over the intricate designs. It bothered him that the drawings only made Thomas that much hotter. It wasn’t surprising, talented people were just hot in general, but it was annoying when he was actually trying to not stare at the guy in wonder.  
  
“Don’t you like them? We can work something else out if you’re unhappy with them.” Thomas suggested, sounding slightly worried, and Newt looked up in confusion, only now realizing that he was frowning.  
  
He hurriedly put a smile on his face. “No no, I really like them,” he muttered, momentarily distracted by the reassured smile that entered Thomas’ face, “I’m just… I have a hard to picking one. They’re all really good. Where did you learn to draw like that?” he asked, spreading the sketches out again, particularly drawn to the one to the far right. “Were you planning on filling anything in the middle square?” tracing his fingertips along the lines of the drawing, Newt already knew that this was the one. He was just curious as to what the thought behind leaving a square free had been.  
  
The drawing was simple enough in itself. It consisted of a square with nothing in it, four openings, one on each side of the square, and a maze behind it that ended in a circle, from which eight different sections of more maze went out. The farther they went out, the more space there was between what was supposed to be the walls, and in between some of the more spacious places Thomas had drawn lines of ivy and exotic flowers.  
  
The brunette seemed to realize that Newt had basically made his choice already, because he moved a bit to get a clear view of his drawing. “That one, actually. I was a bit on the edge about the flowers, not many dudes want flowers up and down their arms, but I thought that since there aren’t that many of them and the ivy’s there as well it might work. If you don’t like it we can do something else. I didn’t envision something for the square to be honest. If you want something put in there we could probably make it work. Your e-mails gave me the impression that the Maze-thing was the important part, so I figured that it was some sort of symbol. So starting in the middle in like a blank square seemed like a good idea to me. I wasn’t sure if that’s what you were going for, though, so I made others in case you didn’t like it. These are the sketches I liked the most.”  
  
Newt drew in a breath as softly as he could, trying not to show how impressed he actually was. He wasn’t one to communicate deep emotions. He liked expressing himself with sarcasm and small gestures. He hardly ever told anyone how he actually felt, and he didn’t even remember telling anyone he loved them, not even his parents, so stuff like this didn’t come easily to him. He wanted to praise Thomas for having spent so much time on just planning the tattoo, but he couldn’t find the words. He settled for biting the inside of his cheek and pointing at the sketch. “That one. Definitely that one. It’s perfect.” He muttered, collecting the other three in a small pile and handing them to Thomas. He didn’t particularly feel like making eye contact, a bit uncertain with how he was supposed to handle this amazing guy and the very intent interest with which the brunette looked at him.  
  
“Cool,” Thomas started, making a movement toward the chair and moved the sketch, flashing Newt another one of those smiles that made his heart thump just a little faster.  
  
It wasn’t like being in love, he assumed (not that he’d actually know, he was fairly certain he’d never tried being in love with someone), and it wasn’t a crush, he didn’t know this person well enough for it to be anything like that, but he couldn’t deny that he was very attracted to this Thomas-character and that flirting with him made his heart flutter and his stomach twist in nervous jitters. It was exciting, but it also made him a little uneasy. He wasn’t used to flirting, he didn’t really know how, and shyness wasn’t something he usually had to deal with. He was a pretty open guy, but then again, it was easy being open with friends. It was a lot harder being open with a very, _very_ cute guy with kissable lips and eyes like hot caramel.  
  
Of course all these musings took close to no time at all, fortunately, that, because Newt was soon going to seem very stupid if he kept forgetting to listen to what Thomas was saying in order to be able to stare at him adoringly. This time he caught onto the words and nodded while the other guy was explaining the process of getting a tattoo. “Will it hurt?” he asked, knowing that it was a stupid question, but unable to prevent himself from asking it.  
  
The startled laugh that left the artist’s lips made his own momentary embarrassment worth it, though. “I didn’t peg you to be the sensitive type. You seem tough. It differs depending on how sensitive you are in general. Some people say it hurts like hell, some people can’t even get their tattoos finished, and some tough-asses say it doesn’t hurt at all, although I suspect that some of them are just saying so to seem cool.” He mused, pursing his lips in a way that was very distracting. If he was going to keep drawing attention to his lips like that Newt would have no issues with pain, he would be way too distracted. “It stings a bit, but it’s not downright painful if you ask me. T, what do you think?” he asked, looking over his shoulder to the pretty brunette who shrugged slightly.  
  
Newt had to ask. “Where’s yours?”  
  
The smirk Teresa sent him almost made him regret asking, but luckily she turned around and pulled her tank-top up (Newt was somehow not surprised at all that she wasn’t one for modesty, she definitely had the body to show it off) and reveal a whole-back tattoo of a pair of intricate angel wings. When he turned his head Thomas looked self-satisfied enough that Newt assumed that he’d been the one to do them. “She has more, but she can’t show those off in public.” Thomas confided, drawing a smile from Newt when Teresa’s sing-song ‘shut uuuup’ reached them. “Okay, I’m going to disinfect your skin first and draw the sketch over on your skin with this.” Thomas explained, holding up a marker while he was finding the disinfectant. When Newt didn’t answer right away Thomas caught his gaze and sent him another reassuring sunshine-smile. “You okay? It’s going to be fine, but if you’re not sure you want it maybe you should wait?”  
  
“I want it.” Newt’s answer fell instantly, so instantly that he felt a bit embarrassed about sounding so desperate – his brain was helpfully making him aware that out of context it sounded like they were talking about something completely different. Thomas just nodded, though, one corner of his mouth quirking up further, and got to work, cleansing Newt’s arm with careful, soft fingers. Goosebumps stood out on Newt’s skin almost immediately, not because the touch in itself was very sexy or anything, just because it was soft and comfortable in a way that Newt wouldn’t really have guessed came from a tattoo artist.  
  
It was probably very prejudiced of him to have expected some tough, grunting, ‘roided-out brute who drank cheap beer and wore T-shirt with skulls on them, but Newt didn’t know much about tattoo-artists and he was pleasantly surprised. “That tickles.” He stated when Thomas had finished disinfecting his arm and had gotten to effectively drawing up the lines of his drawing almost from memory alone, only stopping every once in a while to look at it and make sure everything was how it was supposed to be.  
  
“Enjoy the tickling, what comes after isn’t as pleasant.” He warned, laughing softly, and Newt instantly felt more comfortable. Not with the promise of pain of course, but with Thomas’ easy laugh, as though they were old friends, like there was nothing for him to be awkward about. He was incredibly easy to be around as soon as Newt had stopped psyching himself out. “I get how that might’ve sounded creepy.” Thomas added, and Newt felt his cheeks flush stark-red.  
  
“Uhm, it’s fine, I didn’t really assume that you were hitting on me.” Newt stated, turning his head when Teresa let out a disbelieving laughter, but when he made eye contact she merely shrugged and sent him an innocent smile. “Uh… She’s… something else.” he muttered, not sure what else he could actually say, because really, how were you supposed to act when confronted with blatant hints that everything the beautiful boy in front of him said was an innuendo? Newt wasn’t really practiced in trying to make stuff like this make sense, and he felt embarrassingly inexperienced although if he was to judge by Thomas’ smile it didn’t really bother him.  
  
Said artist cocked his head. “It’s really cute that you blush.” He stated, reading the needle and smiling at Newt again. “This will hurt a bit, okay? Just don’t pull away your arm, don’t want the lines to get messed up. If it hurts to much tell me, I’ll stop.”  
  
Newt thought he hurt Teresa mutter something like ‘unless you like it’, but he wasn’t entirely sure if his mind was playing tricks on him by now because it had tuned in on the weird mood. He decided not to comment on it. He didn’t want things to be weird, and if the look Thomas shot Teresa was anything to go by he didn’t either. She flashed them a bright smile and left, waving at Newt and ignoring Thomas completely. This place was bloody weird. Newt cleared his throat. “So, you didn’t get to tell me how you learned to draw so well.”  
  
Thomas’ answering smile was like seeing the sun come up. Newt once again found himself admiring the way his lips curled up, showing off dimples that somehow only accentuated his jawline and his cheekbones. Newt tried answering the smile, not sure if he was actually controlling his facial muscles the way he wanted to, so he looked down at Thomas’ hands, fascinated by the way the needle was printing dark lines over his skin. It stung, but it wasn’t the worst pain Newt had been through. The time he hurt his leg as a kid because his parents hadn’t paid close enough attention had hurt a lot more. He still had a bit of a limp to prove it. He looked up when Thomas started speaking again.  
  
“I went to art-school. I was going to study more and do something else with it, but then I got into tattoo-design to make some extra cash and that’s how I met T.” the brunette explained, softly brushing his finger over Newt’s skin to remove the extra ink only continuing to speak after having made sure that what he’d done so far was good, “So she saw my stuff and asked me if I knew how to paint on people. It was really awkward, at first I thought she meant like body-paint or something weird, you know, she sort of gives off a kinky vibe. Oi, watch it!”  
  
The last exclamation was caused by Newt almost choking on pure air, Thomas luckily managed to withdraw his hand before anything got screwed up, “You gotta take care not to move too much, buddy.” He stated, sending Newt a stern look while the blonde was still coughing like crazy. “Need me to get you some water?” And he didn’t even wait for an answer, but put down the tattoo machine and went to get him a glass. Newt got his breathing under control a bit, thankful when Thomas saved him by handing him the water. “You’re not that used to… all that kind of stuff, are you?” he asked, and Newt emptied the glass before answering, completely lost on what he was actually going to answer. So he just shrugged, and Thomas nodded. Newt got the strange feeling that even though he said nothing, he got it.  
  
There was a couple of minutes where the silence was only filled by the buzzing of the tattoo machine as Thomas resumed his work, and Newt once again found himself mystified by how easily Thomas moved. He seemed like he’d done nothing but this his entire life. “But you figured out after some time that that wasn’t it?” he asked, wanting to know more about Thomas, steeling himself for the weird things the other guy said sometimes. It was weirdly charming, how he didn’t seem to be able to filter what went from his brain to his lips. It made Newt wonder if he was as vocal in bed, and he pointedly kept his gaze locked on the black lines starting to curl up his wrist so Thomas wouldn’t see his cheeks coloring again. “I mean, you obviously did. Since you’re here now, I mean.” He added, running his free hand through his hair, and when he looked up Thomas had stopped moving for a couple of seconds, taking a break while looking at Newt’s now-tussled hair.  
  
“Yeah. Yeah I got to where I was supposed to be. Wasn’t easy to convince my parents that this was a good idea. They want me to have job-security. Being a tattoo-artist isn’t exactly what you do to impress them. But they’re happy for me now. T was pretty quick to set the record straight, it’s not like that between us. I don’t think she would’ve spent 14 hours total on her stomach with me over her if there’d been anything funky going on.” He mused, looking at Newt’s hair for another two minutes, seemingly deep in thought, before shrugging and going back to his work. “You’re a pretty good listener, Newt.”  
  
Newt spent a couple of seconds pondering if Thomas was yanking his bloody chain or if he genuinely didn’t know what the crap he let out sounded like to other people. In the end he decided not to comment on it because that would just make everything more awkward. “Thanks. So, do you live with your parents?” he asked, hoping to find out how old Thomas was because he honestly couldn’t tell. There was a slight five o’clock shadow adorning that beautiful jawline, but his eyes were full of a playfulness that spoke of an inner child. It was hard to decide if he should shoot for 18 or 28.  
  
He got a short shake of Thomas’ head and a smile, “Nah, way too messy to live with anyone else. I’m all by my lonesome. I visit them a lot, though, they’re great.”  
  
Newt felt a small twinge of jealousy but forced himself to keep returning the smile so he didn’t seem too bitter about it. “That’s good. That’s really good.” And he meant it. He was happy that a guy like Thomas had a great family. He seemed nice, he seemed like he deserved it, and Newt felt bad for aching for it so bad that he was actually jealous. “It’s important to have people who will take care of you.”  
  
Thomas sent him a look that made Newt wonder if he’d said something wrong, there was something in his eyes that he didn’t quite understand. Then Thomas smiled so softly that it pulled at every single heartstring Newt had and he swiped his thumb over what he’d done so far again. “Maybe now would be a good time for a break?” he asked, and Newt nodded, feeling slightly numb when he realized that that thing in Thomas’ eyes was caring. He obviously felt bad for him, so Newt shook his head and smiled.  
  
“No I’m fine. If you can keep going so can I, it’s not that bad.” He argued, not sure yet if he liked Thomas looking at him like that or not. He didn’t need someone to take care of him. He’d been doing that himself for so long only with the help of Minho and Alby. Chuck tried, but that was different. Chuck was just a child, Chuck needed so much help himself. He’d made a decision regarding his family, he’d chosen his own because the one he’d had was crap. He didn’t waste time feeling bad for himself, and knowing that Thomas did… well. He didn’t know him well enough to want him to feel bad for him, so he changed the subject yet again. “How long have you been working here? How many tattoos do you have? Tell me more about your job, it’s bloody interesting.”  
  
Thomas seemed to take the hint and shrugged slightly, somehow managing without messing up the tattoo as he kept tracing long lines. The veins in his arms flexing with the small movements drew Newt’s eyes, and he sighed inwardly. It was partly a good thing, because he didn’t want to meet Thomas’ eyes, but it also seemed stupid. He shouldn’t be this attracted to someone so quickly, and all his instincts screamed at him to get out of here as quickly as possible. Deciding that he’d never come back after the tattoo was done, he picked up his book, resolving to read for a bit, but failing and putting it down again instantly when he realized how rude he was being. “Sorry, I’m a bit out of it. Maybe it hurts more than I thought. Keep going though. Talk.”  
  
The confused glance he received almost made him feel bad enough to blurt out some stupid excuse for his weird mood, but he held his tongue and waited for Thomas to do just that. “I’ve worked here for 1.5 years. And I have… well, do the sleeves count for one each? ‘cause they didn’t start out as sleeves, the one on the left started out as three different tattoos that got combined into a sleeve, and the other one was… 4 small and one bigger. And then there’s one right under my chest, like, upper abdomen, one on the hipbone and one on my calf. I think that’s it. I steered clear of the back, seems a bit cheesy with like a huge back-tattoo on a guy, don’t you think?”  
  
Newt nodded mutely. He had no idea how to respond to this. The mere thought of ink covering so much of Thomas’ body struck him hard with an intense desire to trace every inch of it with his fingers, _oh God, with his tongue_ and he didn’t know what the fuck was happening to him, just that he didn’t particularly enjoy it. “Did you do all of them yourself?” he forced himself to ask, having to ask something. Anything.  
  
A small nod, and there was something extremely endearing about the fact that the tip of Thomas’ tongue stuck out just slightly at the right side of his mouth as he was focusing on a particularly intricate part of the design. “Yeah, yeah I did most of it. Some of it was pretty hard. The stuff on my shoulders is all T’s art, though, and I mean, she did an amazing job so I’m not one to complain.” He stated moving to push down the collar of his short so Newt could admire the work, and he had to admit that though Teresa seemed bloody odd she was obviously as talented as Thomas if not even more. “Can’t recommend getting one here, though.” Thomas warned, pointing to the edge of his collarbone where the shoulder-tattoo stopped, “Pure agony.”  
  
Another nod from Newt, and then he picked up his book, trying to focus on that and not move around too much because honestly it was starting to sting, and he was a bit angry with himself for not taking Thomas up on the offer of a break. Now he was too proud, though, and he felt like he had to go through this. The pain was a distraction of the weirdness he felt. He wasn’t even sure if Thomas felt as uncomfortable as he did, but he just knew that the other guy would mean trouble and he didn’t like it. He was the type of guy who would set your heart on fire and make you enjoy it. Newt had been burned plenty though it hadn’t been by love of the romantic kind, so he really didn’t need more of that.  
  
Which meant that when Thomas finished and packed away his stuff, softly cleansing the tattoo and gently smearing it with a sticky salve before wrapping it up Newt was pretty damn relieved. He’d gotten through it. Now he had a long while to get his thoughts figured out and put a bit of distance between them. That would be good for him. It would make it easier to return and pretend like there had been no sexual tension between them. He got up, handing Thomas the money he owed so far and they made a deal to e-mail each other about the next appointment. All was good. He shoved his book in his back and flashed the other guy a short smile, turning around and just as he opened the door-  
  
“So hey, do you want to get together some day where I’m not spending one and a half hour putting you through intense agony?”  
  
He wanted to keep going. He wanted to walk on and pretend he hadn’t heard, but he knew that the set of his shoulders and the slightly halt in his step gave him away as the door slammed behind him.


	2. The sting I've grown to love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I was kidding. Jeez, guys are so useless. He’ll be right out, do try not to look like a wounded puppy when he gets back, or he’s gonna be under the impression that you actually care. I’ll say this once, blondie, only once. Thomas seems like he’s all happy-go-lucky all the time, and he usually is. He’s not the type to let small things get him down, which means that when he goes all quiet and sulky something is wrong – if you make me have to deal with that, I’ll find you and crazy-murder you. Chuck is Thomas’ friend, not mine, I don’t care if he gets angry that I made his friend disappear. They’ll never find your body if you hurt Thomas. And if you ever mention this to Thomas when you two figure out whatever weird crap you’re pulling right now, so help me God,” she warned, and Newt stared at her, wide-eyed and frankly terrified, opening and closing his mouth a couple of times without coming up with anything to say. Teresa seemed unimpressed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. This took a long time. I can only say that my attentions have been divided elsewhere. I'll update this again - idk when. As you all know there's a lot of projects going on, but I'll try to hurry! :3 Thank you for your patience!  
> 2\. Betaed by the wonderful [isuclahey](http://isuclahey.tumblr.com) of tumblr!  
> 3\. Newt has issues.

From: Thomas Green   
Subject: Regarding our next appointment  
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hi Newt,  
Sorry for the formal title, Teresa would kill me if she knew that this wasn’t only about the tattoo. I think she has the password for my e-mail account, so if you get any suspicious mails from me please ignore them.

When do you want to book our next appointment? I get that things were a little awkward and I’m sorry if I crossed some boundaries, I really didn’t mean to. I felt like we had some pretty good chemistry going, but if I was wrong I promise I’ll be totally professional next time.

I hope I didn’t fuck up too badly. You seem like a really cool guy, and if it’s because you’re not into dudes I’m really sorry for assuming.

I’m rambling and I’m sorry, but I wanted to get this out. Please don’t leave the parlour. I’m pretty sure your sleeve will be one of the coolest ones I've ever made and I’d hate for you to go to someone else to get it finished.

\- Thomas

 

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

From: Newt Isaacs   
Subject: RE: Regarding our next appointment  
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hi Thomas.  
Weird e-mails? Should I be worried?

It’s fine; it was my fault as well. Look, you’re really attractive and I like you a lot, you seem like a good person. I get why Chuck likes you, it’s nice of you to be such a good friend to him. He hasn’t had it easy, but you know that. We did, I’m just not in a position where I can just date someone.

Wouldn’t want someone else to take over your bloody masterpiece then, would we? Do you have a vacant space next week?

\- Newt

 

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

From: Thomas Green   
Subject: RE: Regarding our next appointment  
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Uh, well, she hasn’t done anything before so I don’t really know what I’m warning you against. Just read stuff from me with a critical eye, yeah?

Chuck’s a good kid. Anyone would be lucky to be friends with him.   
Okay, I can respect that, I’ll back off.

I do, Thursday at 6? 3 hours with a break this time?

\- Thomas.

 

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

From: Newt Isaacs   
Subject: RE: Regarding our next appointment  
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Duly noted.  
Deal.

\- Newt

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Three days after that Minho had finally snapped, being utterly and completely done hearing about the cute tattoo artist and how Newt didn’t dare go for it and he was scared because Thomas was so perfect and he hadn’t answered him after that last one Newt had sent and what if he’d been too clipped and-

“Newt I swear if you don’t shut up I will punch you in the teeth, I’m sick of hearing you whine. You go for him or you don’t. You asked him to stay away, so he did. It’s that simple.”

Two days later Minho came to apologize, and Newt forgave him easily although it had hurt. He’d already known that he was being annoying, but had been unable to stop himself. He was just scared. He wanted to go for Thomas, but he also wanted to be a mentally stable human being, and that just wasn’t as easy as it sounded. He hated that he was so insecure about this, but he had a hard time trusting people, and he’d been left plenty of times.

Getting into something with a dimpled, beautiful brunette, whose mouth spewed charming comments as though it was the only thing he’d ever done, was terrifying because what if he didn’t want him and was just randomly flirting? It seemed like second nature to Thomas, so honestly it wasn’t such a surprise that Newt was scared it was just that – harmless flirting.

Newt was aware that Thomas probably wasn’t thinking about marriage and children yet, but Newt couldn’t see himself doing this without having the notion that it could be a long-term thing. He was already getting terribly ahead of himself, especially seeing as he’d told Thomas to back off. “But Alby, what if he doesn’t like me?” was a sentence uttered too many times for his dark-skinned friend to count in the long run.

Or even worse, what if he did?

It was terrifying. Newt was scared, and thus he spent about an hour picking out the right outfit before going to the tattoo parlour. No one would ever know this, though, because he didn’t tell Minho, and he definitely didn’t tell Chuck.

He hadn’t even shared his feeling with the younger boy, because 1) Chuck was bad at keeping secrets, and 2) Thomas was Chuck’s friend. Newt honestly wasn’t certain which one of them Chuck knew better, so he just wouldn’t risk it. Besides, the kid liked to play matchmaker. He might end up screwing things up while just trying to help.

Needless to say, Newt was shaking like a leaf when he was sitting on the bus. He looked at his watch for the fourth time, nervous of being late but also nervous of being too early and standing around awkwardly, waiting for Thomas to finish up something else. If it hadn’t been so embarrassing, he would have been pacing back and forth in the isle. It was stupid, this was just a small crush, and his heart had absolutely no business pounding away like it was trying to power him up for a marathon-length sprint. His hands felt clammy, and he’d shot his sister at least six panicky text-messages, which was probably stupid, seeing as Naya wouldn’t hesitate to use this against him should he and Thomas ever become a thing.

Which they weren’t. Nope. Never. Because this was just a crush and Thomas probably wasn’t really interested and this wasn’t like that.

Knocking tentatively on the door and realizing his mistake instantly Newt walked in, already slightly flushed, and he discretely dried his palms on his pants, hoping that Thomas wouldn’t notice. Which he didn’t, because the parlour was empty. Newt blinked and looked at his watch. This was the time they’d planned, wasn’t it? Panic rose inside him, accompanied instantly by embarrassment and shame that he was so scared to look like an idiot in front of Thomas that he’d actually managed to mess up the times and-

“Hi blondie.”

He looked up from rapidly flicking through his e-mails and breathed a bit easier when he saw Teresa. At least there was someone here. That was good. Right?

“Uh. Hi. I’m here for my next appointment with Thomas?” he muttered, pointing at his tattoo. Teresa nodded towards the chair he’d been in for his last session, rolling up her sleeves.

“Yeah, Tom isn’t here today, but I’m gonna take good care of you though,” she stated, and Newt tried not to look as crestfallen as he felt. It was like a punch in the gut. He’d managed to get Thomas to back off completely. His interest obviously hadn’t been so genuine after all if it took so little to get him to abandon his creative masterpiece completely. He felt a gnawing sense of bitterness creep into his mind, annoyed that Thomas had actually asked him out and pretended like he was genuinely into him when that wasn’t the case. It was extremely unprofessional, not to mention rude, but right after thinking this Newt instantly felt bad. He’d asked Thomas to leave him alone, and Thomas was respecting that wish. Newt shouldn’t be angry with him for that, but he was, and he obviously hadn’t been able to keep the hurt off his face because Teresa was patting his shoulder now. He raised his head to look at her, and she rolled her eyes.

“I was kidding. Jeez, guys are so useless. He’ll be right out, do try not to look like a wounded puppy when he gets back, or he’s gonna be under the impression that you actually care. I’ll say this once, blondie, only once. Thomas seems like he’s all happy-go-lucky all the time, and he usually is. He’s not the type to let small things get him down, which means that when he goes all quiet and sulky something is wrong – if you make me have to deal with that, I’ll find you and crazy-murder you. Chuck is Thomas’ friend, not mine, I don’t care if he gets angry that I made his friend disappear. They’ll never find your body if you hurt Thomas. And if you ever mention this to Thomas when you two figure out whatever weird crap you’re pulling right now, so help me God,” she warned, and Newt stared at her, wide-eyed and frankly terrified, opening and closing his mouth a couple of times without coming up with anything to say. Teresa seemed unimpressed.

“God, you’re as dense as he is. Just know this – they’ll never find your body. Trust me. Nod if you understand.”

Newt nodded mutely, which seemed to satisfy her because she smiled happily and disappeared as quickly as she’d come, leaving Newt confused and slightly scared. Teresa was terrifying, that much he knew, but the rest was still a mystery to him. He hadn’t meant to hurt Thomas with his rejection, he just wasn’t used to people coming on so strong, and honestly the thought of the gorgeous brunette genuinely being into him scared the ever-living hell out of him.

He hadn’t thought he had the power to hurt someone, but apparently Thomas didn’t exactly take kindly to people rejecting him and asking him to stay away, and if Newt hadn’t been so confused and inexperienced in all of this he might’ve been able to see that sooner. Of course Thomas had assumed that he was interested. They’d spent an hour and a half talking and getting to know each other, Thomas flirting and Newt responding the best he could. He’d been interested and Newt had rejected him, so it wasn’t really a surprise that Thomas had been disappointed and probably felt more than a bit awkward with the prospect of seeing the guy who’d rejected him again. Specifically for several hours while Thomas could either work in painful, silence or try to make small talk.

So when the brunette walked out of the backroom Newt beamed at him, eagerly trying to convince himself that it was just because he didn’t want to be rude and not because Teresa had confirmed to him (unintentionally, Newt guessed, but that didn’t change the fact) that Thomas was genuinely interested. His heart was pounding all the way up in his throat when Thomas’ hesitant expression turned into a bright beaming smile. Newt hadn’t really pegged him to be the bitter, resentful type, so he hadn’t expected awkwardness per se, but he also hadn’t expected Thomas’ expression to brighten with happiness when he saw Newt smile. He mentally berated himself for being so happy about Thomas looking at him like that, but he was painfully aware that his own was growing by the second. Soon it would be so big it would be difficult for him to pretend like he was just genuinely excited about the tattoo, so he coughed into his hand and flopped down in the chair, looking at Thomas through his eyelashes. He was slightly embarrassed by himself now that he knew that Thomas had been serious. In his inner heart he hadn’t believed it until now because Thomas was just so outgoing and it had been terrifyingly easy to persuade himself that he couldn’t possibly be interested in awkward, inexperienced Newt. Besides, if he were, wouldn’t he lose interest? Newt could feel himself starting to freak out again, so he cleared his throat and looked down at his phone, unable to meet Thomas’ gaze.

“Hey, I just wanted to apologize-” he started, quickly being interrupted by Thomas who held up both of his hands in front of his chest.

“No no, wait, please don’t apologize, I’m the one who should be sorry. I was way too forward, it was unprofessional, and I shouldn’t have bugged you about it over e-mail; I just wanted to apologize for my behaviour, I just felt like-” he stopped himself, a quick intake of breath and the way he fiddled with a pen Newt hadn’t even seen him pick up betrayed how nervous he was. He paused quickly and bit his lower lip. “Look, I’m not going to keep talking about how much I wanted to think that you were interested, I don’t want to pressure you into going on a date with me, I just wanted to say again that I’m sorry and I promise I won’t ask anymore.”

Newt nodded mutely, swallowing a lump in his throat while inwardly scolding himself for being so awkward. He really, really wanted to tell Thomas to ask him out again, but he couldn’t force the words over his lips. Instead he just stared at Thomas’ lips, knowing that he was probably being creepy, and not even hearing the last thing Thomas said.

“Wha-?” he started, stopping short when Teresa walked out of the back room and flashed him an overly nice smile that made his blood run cold. She was terrifying, so he just stared back at Thomas again and smiled, shaking his head. “Thomas, don’t worry about it. I overreacted because I’m not… good at that stuff,” he ended as the door swung closed behind Teresa. “Uh… where’s she going?”

Thomas stared at him incredulously. “We don’t have two tattoo-artists in the shop after 6 pm on regular nights. We usually close up at 7 if we don’t have any appointments,” he stated as though Newt should know that. He didn’t seem like he was blaming him or anything, just stared at Newt in wonder, like he couldn’t believe that the blonde wasn’t as well versed in the world of tattoo-art.

“Then why did you make the appointment now?” he asked in total confusion, because if Thomas had decided not to hit on him anymore he didn’t understand why he’d want him alone here.

“You’d said you wanted to get the next thing done quickly, and I didn’t have an open spot for a long time unless it was now,” Thomas said, shrugging, and smiling that half-smile that made Newt’s heart jump. He watched silently, not knowing what to say while Thomas started preparing, once again cleaning his skin and inspecting his former work so closely Newt could feel the brunette’s breath on his skin. It tickled, but that wasn’t the only reason the hairs on his arms stood up straight. (He could almost hear Minho’s stupid ‘straight may not be the word, Newtie.’)

“Oh. That’s nice,” he muttered when the silence started to stretch too long. He didn’t want an uncomfortable silence to dominate this appointment, because three hours of him drooling over Thomas and Thomas trying not to flirt with him was potentially the most awkward thing Newt could imagine.

Thomas just nodded softly, murmuring words under his breath that Newt didn’t quite catch and that obviously weren’t meant for him anyway. “This healed nicely,” Thomas ended up muttering when he was done inspecting the outline of the tattoo, straightening up and sending Newt another quick smile. Newt definitely didn’t blush and he most certainly wasn’t affected by the feeling of Thomas’ breath on his skin at all. That would be really pathetic. Totally pathetic. So pathetic. Oh god, I’m so pathetic.

“I’m glad. That’s good,” Newt stated, knowing exactly how lame he sounded, and he sort of wanted to hide his face in his hands. He was probably making Thomas very, very uncomfortable, and he felt bad because it kind of seemed like he’d already led Thomas to believe that he wasn’t interested at all. It was a problem, really, because he was interested, he was just really scared of getting hurt.

There was no response to that, which made sense, because what could Thomas really say? Newt knew that he’d managed to shut down the conversation totally, and he was already regretting not bringing his book this time. Thomas hadn’t even started working yet, and he’d already messed up. He breathed through his nose while the brunette readied the needle, and his brain worked furiously to come up with something to say. In the end he just leaned back and sighed softly. “I’m sorry for being weird, Thomas. I really like you, but I’m not good with these things.”

The comforting smile Thomas flashed him helped a bit – but only a bit. Thomas being so understanding about this made it so much harder to stay resolved in his decision to not go out with him. So he busied himself with imagining how cool the tattoo would look when it was finished, imaging how his sister would react. He wanted it to be a surprise, but he was also sort of worried that she wouldn’t approve. Her opinion was the only one that had mattered to him for a long time – except Minho’s of course.

The tracing of the needle stung slightly, but no more than last time. Newt bit his lower lip. Maybe he was just more sensitive about it because he'd been distracted by Thomas last time and he was trying not to be now.

Half an hour went by with Newt forcing himself not to stare mindlessly at Thomas’ broad shoulders (the bugger was wearing a tank top, what was he supposed to do?) and the way his muscles flexed ever so slightly when he moved. He wasn’t staring at the sun kissed skin and the moles dotting it and he definitely wasn’t staring at Thomas’ dimples and wondering what it would feel like to kiss them. That would be really creepy and Newt wasn’t creeping on Thomas.

He realized that he’d been silent for too long when Thomas glanced at him uncertainly. He wouldn’t have noticed if he hadn’t been busy counting every single eyelash and wondering how they could be so long. He quickly averted his eyes and chuckled without knowing why, feeling incredibly awkward and shy. Thomas just beamed at him again when his gaze found him again, picked up the tattooing needle and got back to work.

“Tell me something about yourself,” he asked, leaning closer to Newt’s skin to do a long, straight line. Newt couldn’t help but be impressed at the accuracy Thomas managed to move with. It was fascinating to watch, really.

“I have a sister. Naya. She’s my best friend,” he said, not sure what else to offer up without giving too much of himself. He felt like it was a bit too soon to get into his whole tragic backstory. He didn’t want Thomas to get scared off (‘Why, though, if you don’t want to date him?’), and even more importantly: he wasn’t really ready to share this with a guy he didn’t even know, no matter how cute and nice he was. “Ouch, that stings,” he muttered, wincing slightly when Thomas got close to his wrist where the skin was particularly delicate.

The brunette shot him an apologetic look, taking a small break until Newt cleared his throat and urged him on with a small nod. It would have to get done. Newt knew how to endure pain. The result was going to be worth it. It had to be.

Needle tracing, skin burning and his eyes stinging a bit more than he liked to admit Newt tried to distract himself yet again. “How about you? Any siblings?”

Did his voice crack a little bit? He really hoped not. He didn’t want to embarrass himself more than he already had, and even though Thomas didn’t seem like the judgmental type Newt couldn’t help but worry what the other guy thought of him. Was that normal? He was pretty sure it was, but it still felt like he was being the lamest person on the entire planet and that no one could ever have embarrassed themselves as thoroughly as he kept doing in Thomas’s presence.

The thing was, Newt wasn’t the type to complain. He’d had it rough, but only Minho knew exactly how rough, and his friend knew that Newt didn’t want to talk about it. Partly because he didn’t want people to worry about him, partly because he felt like that was just too private. It wasn’t anyone’s business that his family was fucked up and that his parents didn’t care much. But that didn’t change the fact that it hurt. He’d made a bad mistake talking about siblings, because his emotions where his sister was concerned were pretty strong. At least he could cover it up with the fact that the tattoo was stinging. Thomas didn’t comment, though, just smiled at him and shook his head.

“No, no siblings. Just me, my mother and my father. They’re pretty supportive of this place, actually. I’m fortunate,” he stated, and Newt recalled him mentioning something of the like. He still felt bad for being jealous of that.

He nodded slightly, though. He knew that he could hide these emotions because he did with Minho all the time, and smiled softly instead. “That’s cool. It’s a good thing when parents let their children do what they want instead of meddling because they don’t agree.” If your parents even bother meddling.

He was being weird. He was getting up in his own head again. He didn’t know why Thomas made him feel like this, but it embarrassed him knowing that he lost control of himself so much.

‘Why did you make him back off if you’re so thirsty for him?’ his inner voice asked, and it was partly annoying because his inner voice was completely right, partly because his inner voice sounded a whole lot like Minho.

‘I didn’t know that I did want to go on a date with him. I panicked, I got scared.’

He was shaken by his thoughts when Thomas asked a question and blinked. “What?”

The brunette was staring at him strangely. “I asked what you said.”

Fuck.

“Uh…”

Newt wasn’t sure if he was grateful or not that Thomas just looked back to his arm. “I just thought you said something.”

Definitely grateful, but also definitely not. He bit his lip, closing his eyes and leaned back again, trying to get a hold of himself and failing. In the end he took a deep breath. “I said I didn’t know when you asked me that I did want to go on a date with you. I’ve never… actually dated someone before. I panicked. I’m used to my friends dating, in fact I think all of my friends must have shagged each other’s bloody brains out by now,” he noted drily, making a face and trying to ease the obvious tension. Thomas had stopped working on the tattoo and was watching him with those warm brown eyes that made his heart beat faster and his stomach churn with something not entirely unpleasant. “Which is way more than you probably wanted to know, but my point is, that I’m… I’m not uninterested.”

‘Lame. Lame, lame, lame. Bloody buggin’ lame.’

‘Get a grip, blondie, you’re freaking out over nothing. He wants to go out with you too.’

Minho again, annoyingly accurate. Newt wanted to strangle his friend, and he wasn’t even here.

“So… what are you saying?” Thomas asked, and his look of surprise had slowly morphed into a smile that was now threatening to become the happy beam that Newt had grown to like a lot way too quickly. He looked hopeful in a way that made Newt’s cheeks feel warm.

He readied himself to launch into a whole speech because he spoke a lot when he was nervous, and his stomach was doing all kinds of twists that he didn’t know were possible. He was actually a little bit nauseous. What if Thomas had changed his mind because Newt was such an idiot? “I’m saying that, uhm, if I haven’t scared you off with my intimacy issues yet-” he started, but was promptly cut off.

“Go out with me.” Thomas blurted it so quickly he was almost stumbling over his words. Newt wanted to kiss him right then and there, but he also knew himself well enough to realize that that was a terrible idea. He’d get his hopes up, he’d be freaking himself out, and then he’d end up running because things happened too fast. Newt might not have a lot of experience with relationships, but he did have a lot of experience with people leaving and him distancing himself from people if it seemed that they didn’t live up to the expectations he’d built up for himself. He couldn’t stand being disappointed by another person.

“Yes. I’d love to go out with you.”


	3. Subsiding softly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Newt has finally agreed to go on a date with Thomas, and what a date it is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. The wait was long, I know. So much stuff to do. I'll try to be good for you guys and finish this, but as some of you know I'm pretty focused on my newmas big bang fic right now, so unless I'm hit by an intense wave of creativity for this particular verse I'm sorry to say that the wait might be long again. Sorry. I promise it'll be worth it when the big bang fic comes out!  
> 2\. Betaed by the wonderful and extremely effective [commandernewton](http://commandernewton.tumblr.com). Thank you so much, darling!

”Wait, so you hear my voice in your head when you’re being a huge nerd while talking to him? I don’t even know where to start with that, man, that’s screwed up.”

 

Newt briefly considered if murdering Minho would somehow release a karmic response and somehow ruin his date. He supposed that the police barging into the room would put a damper on any romantic mood, and he decided not to risk it. “Get it out of your system while I’m finding some clothes, that way I can easier tune you out.”

  
Minho’s snort of laughter prompted no other reply than an eye roll from Newt who started rummaging through his clothes, sadly facing the fact that he didn’t really have a lot of clothes that could be considered “date-worthy”. Yet another con of having never dated. He’d never had to go shopping for clothes that looked good, it wasn’t really his style to dress up for others, which meant that he was now absolutely screwed because he didn’t have time to go shopping before he was seeing Thomas. Minho, on the other hand, seemed to enjoy himself because he was still talking.

 

“And, you know, I know I’m hot, but you revealing your embarrassing crush on me as you’re telling me about your new boyfriend is sort of weird and all, but I guess I’d be down to meet him and see if a threesome could be in the cards,” he rambled on, and Newt cursed Minho’s good reflexes, because it meant that his friend managed to duck the ratty old converse shoe thrown after him. “Don’t be aggressive, it’s not attractive, Newton, and don’t scowl, you’ll get wrinkles.” A snarl and Newt was on top of him, the two of them wrestling for a bit as Minho was laughing his ass off, until finally he pinned Newt on the floor. “Now now, save some of all that energy for Thomas, I’m sure he’ll appreciate a little rumble tumble, unless you’re a third date kind of guy of course, in that case maybe- oompfh!”

 

A quick blow to the stomach had finally shut Minho up, and as the Asian was cursing under his breath, Newt propped himself up on his elbows. “Are you done talking and ready to help me find something to wear, or are you going to continue being an insufferable prick?”

 

Minho seemed to ponder this for a second or two, before shrugging, getting up and helping Newt do the same. “Let’s go raid your sister’s closet, she probably has some tight jeans you can wear. Also, when do you plan on telling him that you live with your sister? Because I mean, the morning after would sort of be an awkward time to find that out.”

 

Luckily, Newt didn’t have another shoe nearby, because if he’d had one, Minho would probably have had to spend fifteen minutes time tending to his precious hairdo. Instead they made their way to the room across from Newt’s to see if Naya had anything he could borrow.   
  
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Hours later, dressed in a plaid button shirt ( _“It’s_ not _too casual, trust me,_ nothing _is casual with those jeans, man.”_ )and a pair of very, very tight jeans, Newt was waiting for Thomas to show up. The other guy wasn’t late yet, but he was cutting it close, and Newt had changed his mind about this about sixteen times up until now. Minho, the owner of the shirt, was gone to some party or another with Sonya and Harriet. Naya had made herself scarce in case Thomas came up for a drink before they went out, even if Newt had assured her several times that that wouldn’t be the case. He would stay sober so he couldn’t make an ass of himself, and Naya’s jeans would be safe from the sullying of dry humping. Newt had stated in very clear terms how weird it was for her to make a comment like that, but his sister had just laughed loudly and waved at him as she went out with a couple of her friends. Brilliant. And now he was here, _pacing_.  
  
What if Thomas had forgotten? Or changed his mind when he’d realized exactly how damaged Newt was? What if Thomas had found someone really hot on his way over here and decided that an easier lay would be much more enjoyable? Of course this was just Newt’s own insecurities talking, and he knew that, he’d found himself looking forward to this a lot over the past few days, not only because it was a date with a hot guy, but because it was a date with _Thomas_. Thomas seemed flirty and charming, but Newt had slowly started to decide that Thomas wasn’t playing him. He didn’t know what told him that, but he was inexplicably pretty certain.  
  
Just as he was about to text Thomas that there was an emergency and that the tattoo artist shouldn’t come anyway, the doorbell buzzed, and Newt jumped just slightly. He’d not expected Thomas to come up, and how he’d even gotten into the apartment building without using the buzzer, Newt didn’t really know. He made his way to the door, stopping briefly to check his hair in the mirror, and opened it, trying to look like someone who hadn’t been panicking only seconds ago. “Hi. You could’ve just called, I would have come down,” he said. Not much of a greeting, but it was all that came to mind, which was frankly embarrassing seeing as he’d practiced his greeting for the past ten minutes.

 

Thomas, unsurprisingly, looked amazing. He too was wearing a pair of skinny jeans, and his shoulders were beautifully broadcast in a tight T-shirt. Newt sort of wanted to rub his face to those shoulders to see if they were as hard as they looked. He almost physically shook his head at the thought, because that was even weirder than having Minho’s voice in his head, but thought better of it and stepped back a little instead. He felt awkward as hell, and fortunately for him Thomas showed mercy and took the word again. “No it’s fine, I was actually here ten minutes ago, but I met someone on the stairs who was moving in so I gave them a hand with a couch that seemed to be slipping from them. In case you didn’t know, the people who are moving in upstairs are nice,” Thomas said, flashing another one of those big dopey smiles that felt like they were giving Newt heart palpitations.

 

“Oh. That’s cool,” the blond muttered, yet again at a loss for words. When did he get this awkward? Maybe it was just the way fabric stretched over Thomas’ chest, or maybe he was just a major dork. Either way, he needed to get Thomas out of here, just in case Naya came home, so he took another step forward. This of course caused Thomas to open his arms as though he expected a hug, and Newt stared at him, blinked, and took another step to return the hug – just as Thomas took his arms down. “I’m sorry, oh God I’m so bloody awkward, I’m sorry.”

 

To Thomas’ credit it took him a few seconds to burst out laughing, and Newt sort of wanted to kiss him, because it didn’t seem mean-spirited. “Newt, I’m gonna ask you to relax just a bit, okay? It’s just a date, there’s no reason to freak out. I promise not to pop the question or something like that. It’s just about relaxing and having fun and getting to know each other.”

 

Surprisingly, that _did_ make Newt feel a little better and he found himself answering Thomas’ smile. “Okay. Okay, I’m good. Sorry.”

 

The handshake caught him a bit off guard, but he was grateful nonetheless, that Thomas was being this nice about things. And of course he’d helped some random strangers move, because apparently he was just a saint set on this earth to torture Newt’s poor emotions. “Don’t apologize. You good to go?”

  
Newt nodded, and he couldn’t be sure, but he thought Thomas’ hand twitched as Newt passed to get his jacket, and the blond couldn’t help but wonder if Thomas wanted to hold his hand. “Where are we going anyway?” Newt asked as he held the door open, letting Thomas out so he could shut it and lock it after him. A brief greeting from Thomas to the people who were apparently moving in upstairs left the two of them in awkward silence for a few seconds before Thomas flashed him a huge grin. “You’re not going to tell me, are you?”

 

The brunet shook his head, and then he grabbed Newt’s hand and entwined their fingers, effectively making Newt’s heart do a fluttering tap dance in his chest as he followed the tattoo artist. Thomas bounded down the stairs with no regard for things as speed, corners and general safety and Newt couldn’t help but smile. Maybe this kind of energy was just what his life needed.

 

The thing was, though, he couldn’t help being a little bit scared. It wasn’t so much that he was scared of where they were going. That had nothing to do with it, because Thomas sort of seemed like the type who could get in trouble anywhere. Newt was more worried that the date would be awkward, that he’d mess up, that Thomas would realize that Newt was way too much work to spend his time on, that he’d spill the food in his own lap, that would get too close too fast and Newt would end up pushing him away. There were plenty of stuff that could go wrong and Newt was way too aware of this. He could feel his fingers getting clammy and he honestly couldn’t defend his heart beating this hard. Thomas was just holding his hand to get him to follow, and that was completely fine, but Newt couldn’t stop himself from being nervous. Butterflies were fluttering around his stomach, wreaking havoc, and if it wasn’t for the way his fingers tingled and the corners of his mouth tipped up, he would have been worried he was getting sick. Right underneath the panic and worry that he might mess up, there was this intense feeling of happiness and excitement that managed to keep him going without stumbling all the way down the stairs and landing on his face.

 

“So, what did you do today?” Thomas asked, and Newt thought he could almost feel the brunet bounce with excitement. When Thomas let go of his hand to open the door, the spaces between Newt’s fingers felt annoyingly empty. He could really get used to Thomas being there.

 

He raked his brain for something smart to say. “Uh,”

 

‘ _Bloody great start, shuckface.’_

 _‘Shut up, Minho.’_  
  
“Not much, if I’m being honest,” he ended up replying, turning his face to flash Thomas a quick smile, “Went to school, had a friend over, told said friend that he was a major twat several times over – don’t look at me like that, he’s a twat, you’ll see when you meet him – and then you came over.”

 

He didn’t mention that the time spent with Minho was only to prevent himself from freaking out, and focusing on that meant that it took him a couple of seconds to figure out why Thomas was beaming at him. Oh. Oh shit. He’d already managed to hint that Thomas was going to meet his friends, and they’d only been on this date for five minutes. They hadn’t even made it to the restaurant yet, and Newt was already slowly but surely spilling the beans about the future he’d sort of almost already planned out for him and Thomas. Embarrassing.

 

“I’ll look forward to it, I’m sure your friends are cool. What’s his name?”  
  
Newt shrugged slightly, hoping to play it cool. It probably would have worked if his cheeks hadn’t felt so hot, but he could only hope that Thomas didn’t notice as the sun was setting. “His name is Minho. He’s a twat, but he’s also a bloody genius and really cool deep down behind the layers of loser.”

 

Thomas’ small chuckle at this sent the butterflies a-flying again, and Newt cursed internally because if that was all it took, he was surely lost.

 

“Okay, we’re here!” Thomas announced. Newt blinked.

  
“Uh, Tommy, I hate to be a downer, but that’s an alleyway,” he pointed out, and if he was being honest, the thought that Thomas was actually an insane person sort of struck him right at this moment. Chuck was a little odd, after all, he might not have noticed if Thomas had any dead bodies hanging from his ceiling or eyeballs in his fridge or- He yelped when Thomas just laughed again and pulled him along, obviously not bothering to explain himself. Was he always this impulsive? Newt wasn’t entirely sure if it was a good thing or if he should be worried, but he found himself moving his feet without even telling them to. It was worrying, really, how willing his body was to follow Thomas anywhere without even knowing him that well. Something about the other guy made Newt feel like he’d be a good person to keep close.

 

_‘Well that’s a nice way of putting the fact that you want him to kiss every single inch of you forever and ever.’_

The sarcastic, snarky voice in his head had shifted from Minho’s to his own at some point, and he wasn’t sure if that was a good sign or not, so he decided not to dwell on it and spent his energy looking around instead.

 

He quickly came to the conclusion that he should try to be a more trusting person from now on, because this place was amazing. It basically looked like he’d stepped into a movie, because this restaurant reeked of charm, culture and _Vietnam._ Newt honestly didn’t know much about Vietnam, but the place just had this sort of glow and he couldn’t help but stare. The walls were a warm, golden sort of yellow, the tables a warm dark brown with polished surfaces and from the ceiling hung 5 round, flat silk lanterns that shed the room in a warm, golden glow. He knew he looked like an idiot, but he’d never expected a place like this to be hidden somewhere behind an old alleyway. Without even realizing it, he let his fingers slide over the back of a chair. The tree was just as perfectly polished as that of the tables, and the seat was covered with a dark red fabric. When he turned his face to look at Thomas, he was met with a shit-eating grin. He felt his cheeks heat up just a bit again, and he cleared his throat. “This place is great.”

 

“It is, isn’t it?” Thomas replied, looking horribly satisfied with himself, and he took Newt by the hand again, which quickly overpowered the surprise of the beautiful restaurant and left him feeling slightly giddy and nervous again.

 

“Don’t brag, asshole, you’d never have found this place if I hadn’t dragged you here,” a cheerful voice stated, and Newt yelped in surprise. What was this place? Waiters didn’t talk to customers that way, it was way too weird, and it didn’t help that the girl standing in front of him was absolutely gorgeous. He wasn’t sure if he’d prefer her being a super odd and rude waiter to her actually being Thomas’ friend.

 

The brunet didn’t seem to mind, though, instead he just laughed again, that cheerful, light laughter that made Newt yearn to hear it again the second it stopped. “Newt, this is my friend Brenda, she gifted me with this wonderful place after we’d been friends for six years. Can you believe she kept something like this secret from me for so long?”

 

Newt smiled gingerly, not exactly sure what to say because 1) He didn’t want to offend this Brenda girl, 2) He didn’t want to say something wrong to Thomas either and 3) Brenda was looking at him like he was the most hilarious thing that had ever happened and Newt wasn’t exactly sure how he felt about that. “Uh, I guess, I mean, it’s a beautiful place. Is it a nice workplace?”

 

‘ _Lame. Lame, lame, lame. You should really practice your bloody small talk.’_

Brenda, however, seemed to enjoy the situation immensely, because she quickly squeezed herself in between them, effectively robbing Newt of Thomas’ hand, and placed her palm flat on Thomas’ face. “Asswipe, go pee or something, I’m gonna cross-examine your new boyfriend.”

 

Thomas’ quick exclamation almost managed to drown out the rain of intrusive questions and semi-sexual comments that assaulted Thomas, and in the end his date managed to shove a now-cackling Brenda away from them and laughing awkwardly Thomas pulled out a chair. “I’m so sorry, I had no idea she’d be at work today, and I swear I wouldn’t have brought you here if I’d known.”

 

“It’s fine, I forgive you,” Newt blurted. He hadn’t meant to, it sounded ridiculous, but Thomas just looked so sheepishly apologetic that it just slipped right out of his mouth without him having a second to stop it. “She’s uhm… intense,” he muttered, watching as Thomas went to sit down. Somehow his eyes looked even more like liquid gold in this lighting, and Newt accepted right there and then that he was probably a goner.

 

Thomas, a tad more subdued after the verbal (embarrassing) onslaught of his friend picked up the menu and started scanning it. Newt somehow suspected that he was just pretending to study it, but he wasn’t about to call Thomas out on it, because a small break from the awkwardness was pretty much needed. He decided that a chuckle was enough to answer the huff Thomas made concerning Brenda and focused on the vast array of Vietnamese cuisine on the menu. He didn’t know what half of it was, but it all sounded delicious. “Hey, so I was thinking, maybe we should just order a bunch of different stuff and then we can split the bill afterwards. I’m not that familiar with Vietnamese so I don’t really know what’s good, and-“

 

He blinked. Putting the menu down might have been a mistake, because Thomas was currently looking… well, he was still looking good, but he was seemingly pretending to be some sort of fanged creature with a pair of chopsticks sticking out his mouth. “What _are_ you doing?” Newt asked, arching an eyebrow, because he might be nervous, but he had to call Thomas out on being such a dork. He was way too adorable to not be called out on being a dork, real people didn’t do crap like this. Only adorable dorks got away with doing stuff like this.

 

“Guess what animal I am.”

 

Newt frowned. “No. Please stop doing that.”

 

Thomas, of course, didn’t seem to have any inclinations in that direction, because he’d started making some sort of god-awful moaning sound, “Guess what animal I am, Newt,” he demanded, adjusting the chopsticks yet again, and Newt’s one hand shot up to shield himself from the curious glances of the other guests, “Neeeeeewt,” that horrible, inhuman hoot again, and Newt sort of wanted to stab himself with a chopstick until he died.

 

Thomas didn’t even seem remotely embarrassed, but Newt’s face felt like it had been set on fire, and he was painfully aware of the snickers going around. He knew the people here were probably not laughing at him, but _God_ , who was this person? “You are so-“

  
Another weird moan, “Sexy? Hot? Charismatic?”

 

“Lame, Thomas, he thinks you’re lame,” the waitress, Brenda, stated as she came over, slapping Thomas so hard on the back of his head that he dropped a single chopstick on the table. The other one followed quickly after and Thomas wiped his mouth and flashed Newt a huge grin.

 

“Did you guess what animal I was?”

 

Newt groaned. “What did I get myself into?”

 

Thomas looked disappointed. “You’re not even gonna guess?”

 

Brenda just snorted. “He was a walrus, he does the walrus every time he’s here, the idiot. Now, honey, what would you like?”

  
Thomas picked up the menu and opened his mouth to speak.

 

“No, no not you,” Brenda said, once again squashing the palm of her hand into Thomas’ face with no regard what-so-ever that she was at work, “The cutie you brought, the one who’s not an idiot, although technically he must be sort of dense since he’s here with you.”

 

Newt decided that maybe Brenda wasn’t so bad after all. “Actually, Thomas is gonna order us some stuff, I know nothing about Vietnamese food.”

 

Somehow the banter, Thomas’ weird walrus-impression and the entire feel of the restaurant had managed to get him over the nervous jitters. Maybe it was just that Thomas was so weird it was impossible to worry about doing something wrong, maybe it was that the whole situation was just so absurd. Maybe it was because despite the ridiculous walrus-impression Newt still wanted Thomas to take his hand and do cliché stuff like watching the sunset and bathing in the sea and whispering sweet nothings to each other.   
  
“Oh Thomas doesn’t know anything about it either, he’s just trying to impress you. The dork can’t shut up about you. Newt this, Newt that, Newt’s tattoo, Newt’s smile- oompfh! Thomas, you don’t just assault a lady like that!”  
  
Thomas almost managed to look unaffected. Almost. His ears were red although his smile was unaffected. “I see no lady here,”  
  
Brenda harrumphed and took his order before slapping him on the back of his head and leaving with a loud burst of laughter while Thomas was pouting and nursing the back of his head.  
  
Newt cocked an eyebrow, fiddling with his chopsticks in front of him on the table. “You have some… interesting friends,” he remarked, and when Thomas grunted Newt couldn’t help but laugh. “In a good way. She seems fun. Have you known her for long?”  
  
Thomas wrinkled his nose. “She’s not fun, she’s a jerk. We actually used to date a long time ago,” at Newt’s expression Thomas held up a hand, “Brenda’s into girls now. And no, I’m not that bad a kisser,” he laughed, shooting Newt a quick wink, “There’s nothing left there, we work much better as friends. We were just young and a bit stupid.”

 

Newt frowned. “Okay… that’s…” he paused, “Have you considered not bringing your dates to a restaurant where your ex-girlfriend works? You know, just for simplicity’s sake?” he felt a soft smile grow onto his face when Thomas started worrying his bottom lip, obviously worried he’d managed to scare Newt away, “I mean, I feel like you should’ve saved that for like, 5th date or something. Although the walrus thing was probably 4th date material too.”

 

Thomas’ worried frown turned into a smile that could have honestly lit up the entire Times Square when he realized that Newt was joking, and he shrugged, a slightly sheepish expression on his face. “You make a good point. I don’t really intend on using your notes in the near future, though, I don’t plan on any more first dates in a while,” he stated, looking Newt straight in the eye, and it was a cheesy and premature thing to say, but Newt still found himself blushing.

 

“Is that so?”

 

Thomas nodded, and he opened his mouth, just about to say something, when Brenda emerged again with their first two dishes.

 

After the initial mumblings and groans of enjoyment Thomas paused his eating (something that seemed to take a lot of effort to him, because he was basically inhaling his food up until he actually stopped). “Why didn’t you want to go on a date with me?”

  
Newt blinked. “You’re very direct,” he remarked drily, putting down his chopsticks. His appetite was already suffering from the choice of subject. Damn it. “To be honest I don’t have any experience with dating. No one has ever taken an interest in me before and I’ve never taken an interest in anyone. You don’t seem like a dinner and a movie kind of guy, Tommy, if you don’t mind me saying. I didn’t think you were serious. Also, I have… baggage.”

 

Thomas nodded as though that made complete sense and picked up his chopsticks, going back to eating. Newt’s jaw almost dropped.

 

“Is that all?”

 

Thomas looked up from his food, visibly confused. “Yes? Shouldn’t it be? I just wanted to know if it was something I said,”

 

Newt groaned. “We should probably order some wine.”

 

Thomas nodded, looking slightly uncomfortable. “Good idea,” and as soon as Brenda appeared again he did just that. When she was gone after making a snarky comment Thomas stuck his tongue out at her back before looking back to Newt, amused smile lighting his features.

 

Newt couldn’t stop the fond smile from spreading over his face, although a small inkling of worry was making its way into his head. He bit his lower lip and looked down. He didn’t want to doubt this. He wanted to spend time with Thomas and get to enjoy that without overthinking it, but that was sort of hard and Newt ended up clearing his throat. “Tommy,” he started, forcing a playful smile on his face, because he didn’t want Thomas to freak out of feel pressured into giving a specific answer, “Are you ever serious?”

 

The brunet opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, visibly surprised by the question, before defensively folding his arms over his chest. “I can be serious!” he claimed, before doing a weird face that had Newt’s lips quirking up slightly at the corners. He tried to squash the urge to laugh because this was important. Instead he cocked an eyebrow, going for slightly amused but still skeptic. He wasn’t sure if it came through, but he sort of needed it to.

 

He didn’t _actually_ doubt Thomas’ _ability_ to be serious as such. Thomas had seemed quite genuine in his apologetic email and Newt trusted that the bloke could take responsibility for his actions, it wasn’t that. The thing was, Newt liked Thomas, but in the long run – and that was what Newt was here for as he’d accepted in the privacy of his own brain although he wasn’t exactly ready to admit to this to anyone, least of all Thomas – he needed something more than a charming, silly (albeit hot) jokester.

 

It was fine that Thomas could apologize and take responsibility, but Newt needed to know if he had any brains to speak of at all. Which was why he needed to challenge Thomas now. Before he got in too far, before he lost his heart to someone he had no future with. He knew without a shadow of a doubt that he was already falling for Thomas and he had to call this off if he didn’t want his crush developing. So he was figuring out if he could let it. At least he was trying. He wasn’t exactly sure that Thomas would be up for having a serious conversation right now, the bloke seemed downright giddy.

 

“Prove it,” he prompted, looking Thomas straight in the eyes. It was a good thing that he’d managed to disguise this as a challenge because Thomas’ eyes had a glint of determination in them now. “Tell me something serious.”

 

The brunet met his gaze levelly and nodded to himself. “Okay, give me a second. I’ll blow you away,” he stated, looking so determined that Newt almost started laughing. It wasn’t that he couldn’t take Thomas seriously, he’d established to himself a couple of times already that he had already developed a tendency to freak out over Thomas, which was stupid, seeing as the guy had just pretended to be a walrus.

 

Newt picked up his chopsticks and started trying to eat (and failing miserably – chopsticks really wasn’t his game. Thomas had the decency to not laugh. Or maybe he just didn’t notice because he was thinking so hard about something serious to tell Newt.)

 

Newt had just shoved his mouth full of noodles when Thomas seemingly found out what he wanted to say. The brunet was looking at him expectantly and Newt figured he should swallow his food, a decision that proved to be wise just a few seconds later.

 

“When you said yes to go on a date with me I went straight home and told my mom because I was so excited, and that’s why I’ve been a little dorky tonight. You make me nervous. I’m worried I’ll do something that’ll scare you away, and I mean, being silly means being unintimidating, right? I’m really happy you agreed to come, and I’m sorry if me being stupid is ruining this for you.”

 

Newt blinked. That was definitely not what he’d been expecting. His fingertips felt completely numb. They were the only part of him, though, because his entire face and neck had heated up and he knew that he must be looking like a tomato, his heart was pounding in his chest and he felt acutely aware of every single nerve in his entire body. His heart felt like it was trying to crawl up his throat, and he couldn’t exactly stop the coughing fit that came on. If he’d had the wherewithal to think about that he would have mentally patted himself on the back for swallowing his food first, but right now there was only one thing in his head. Thomas had been excited enough about going on a date with him to tell his mother. Thomas was scared of scaring him off. Thomas had been weird because he was nervous about freaking Newt out.

 

Said brunet cleared his throat again. “Say something. Please.”

 

Newt didn’t exactly feel like he was done gaping, but he’d sort of have to be, because Thomas looked like he was about to choke too, which meant that the blond had to hurry to take a long sip of his glass of water before straightening up. Thomas wanted him to say something? How could he after a declaration like that? “I don’t know what, Tommy,” he pointed out, trying to sound as casual as he could when in reality his crush on Thomas had just intensified hundredfold. “I’m… I’m kind of surprised,” at Thomas’ frown he held up a hand, “No, let me explain. I just… I didn’t think you were serious enough about it to mention something to your mother. I sort of thought you just wanted to get to know me and maybe go on a couple of dates and that was it. I didn’t think you actually…” he paused, struggling for words and realizing that he couldn’t find them with an annoyed groan. “What I’m trying to say is that I’m really happy you told me that,” another short pause, “You can be serious, I’m convinced,” he added, softly, and it felt almost electric when Thomas reached over and turned his arm around so it was back down on the table. When soft fingertips started tracing the outlines of the tattoo Thomas had started doing for him, Newt felt his entire expression stretch into a huge, silly grin. He was fairly certain he’d be able to match Thomas’ giddiness now.

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. Whoops I did the sad I'll make the happy soon promise.


End file.
